Glossopetalon spinescens | |
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Glossopetalon spinescens var. aridum Spring Mountains, southern Nevada | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Crossosomatales |
Family: | Crossosomataceae |
Genus: | Glossopetalon |
Species: | G. spinescens |
Binomial name | |
Glossopetalon spinescens | |
Varieties [2] | |
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Synonyms [2] | |
List
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Glossopetalon spinescens, syn. Forsellesia spinescens, is a species of flowering shrub in the family Crossosomataceae known by the common names greasebush, spiny greasebush, Nevada greasewood and spring greasebush.
It is native to Mexico and the western United States, where it grows in mountainous habitats, often on limestone substrates.
Glossopetalon spinescens known by the common names greasebush, [3] spiny greasebush, [4] [5] [6] [7] Nevada greasewood (in California), [8] [9] spring greasebush [9] and spiny greasewood,[ citation needed ] depending on location/source.
The name 'greasewood' is also a common name for Larrea tridentata in Texas. [10]
The different varieties of this species have also been given separate common names when they were still regarded as distinct species, i.e. plains greasebush for G. planitierum, etc. [11]
This shrub forms a dense, erect clump of many thin, branching, thorny stems approaching 3 metres (9.8 ft) in maximum height. [5] [12] The green oval leaves are less than two centimeters long. [12]
Small white-petalled flowers appear in the leaf axils. [12] The fruit is a single or double follicle a few millimeters wide, and 3 to 5mm long. [12] [5] A follicle is a fruit which splits lengthwise when it is ripe to release its seeds. It is longitudinally striated or ribbed, and coloured green when young, turning light brown. [7]
Glossopetalon spinescens was described by the American botanist Asa Gray in 1853, based on a specimen collected by Charles Wright in 1852 in a mountain ravine near a location called 'Frontera', in either New Mexico or Texas. [3] It is the type species for the genus Glossopetalon . [13]
G. spinescens is conceived at this time as a widespread and morphologically variable species, unlike the other three (as of 2015) recognised species of Glossopetalon , which are all restricted endemics with more narrowly variable morphologies. Six more-or-less geographical, intergrading varieties were recognized as of 2015. [12] [5]
Mason mentions in 2015 that the morphological characteristics distinguishing a particular variety are not reliable, and some named varieties seem to occur sympatrically with other varieties, whereas some varieties appear to be found in disjunct populations, thus that it was important a study should be done investigating the genetics of the different populations of the varieties. [5] A 2021 study did just that. It found that G. spinescens was largely split into two main geographic lineages: a northwest one and a southeast one. The taxa G. clokeyi and G. texense were found to belong to either lineage respectively, and could therefore no longer parsimoniously be seen as distinct species. Consequently, both taxa were reduced to new varieties. A ninth additional variety was described from northern Arizona on the basis of its divergent DNA: goodwinii. [14] It remains unclear which varieties exist in the southern half of Mexico. [5]
Glossopetalon spinescens occurs across a wide range, from southeastern Washington state in the north, [3] south to isolated disjunct populations in the south of Mexico (Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Tlaxcala and Veracruz). [5]
Besides the Mexican states mentioned above, G. spinescens also occurs in the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora and Tamaulipas. [7]
In the US it occurs, from north to south and west to east, in the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. It is not widespread in these states, but is rather localised to a number of counties. [3] [4] [6] In general, this is a rare plant, found most often in scattered concentrations. [3] In Montana and Wyoming it is especially rare, only occurring in a single county (Beaverhead and Sweetwater, respectively). [3] It grows in chaparral and brush country, rocky slopes, canyons and cliffs. [17]
It occurs in calcareous soils on limestone. [6] [7] It occurs at altitudes of approximately 850 to 2200m in Arizona. [7] It grows on hillsides, rocky slopes and crevices and ledges of cliffs in canyons and outcrops in desert scrub, grasslands, chaparral and juniper woodland habitats. [6] [7]
It flowers from March to September throughout its range, [6] March or April to May in Arizona. [7]
Helianthus is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of Helianthus are native to North America and Central America. The best-known species is the common sunflower. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in temperate regions and some tropical regions, as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants. The species H. annuus typically grows during the summer and into early fall, with the peak growth season being mid-summer.
Sarcobatus is a North American genus of two species of flowering plants, formerly considered to be a single species. Common names for S. vermiculatus include greasewood, seepwood, and saltbush. Traditionally, Sarcobatus has been treated in the family Chenopodiaceae, but the APG III system of 2009 recognizes it as the sole genus in the family Sarcobataceae.
Ericameria nauseosa, commonly known as chamisa, rubber rabbitbrush, and gray rabbitbrush, is a shrub in the sunflower family (Aster) found in the arid regions of western North America.
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Erigeron aphanactis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name rayless daisy, or rayless shaggy fleabane. This wildflower is native to the western United States, primarily the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau regions.
Senecio flaccidus, formerly recorded as Senecio douglasii, member of the daisy family and genus Senecio also known as threadleaf ragwort, is a native of the southwestern Great Plains of North America.
Glossopetalon is a small genus of shrubs in the plant family Crossosomataceae. These plants are sometimes called greasebushes. They are native to Mexico and the western United States, where they can be found on dry mountain slopes.
Grayia is a genus of plants in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Common names are siltbush and hopsage. The four shrubby species occur in arid and semiarid regions of western North America:
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Ceanothus pauciflorus, known by the common name Mojave ceanothus, is a species of flowering shrub in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It is native to the Southwestern United States and Mexico, where it grows primarily in shrubland communities at moderate to high elevations. It is characterized by oppositely arranged leaves, corky stipules and white flowers. It was formerly known as Ceanothus greggii.
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Atriplex gardneri is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family known by the common name Gardner's saltbush. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Saskatchewan in Canada south to Nevada and New Mexico in the United States. The specific epithet of the species, gardneri, is misnamed after its first collector, Alexander Gordon. The naturalist Alfred Moquin-Tandon was under the impression that Gordon's last name was Gardner.
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Ira Waddell Clokey (1878-1950) was an American mining engineer and botanist active in the western United States. He first studied at the University of Illinois, then moved to Harvard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in mining engineering in 1903. From 1904 to 1915, Clokey worked as a mining engineer in Mexico. In his spare time he collected plant specimens for his personal herbarium, which, however, was almost completely destroyed during a fire in 1912. In 1921, Clokey completed a Master of Science in plant pathology from Iowa State University.